Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/162

 144 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [chap. A current of ascetic life may be traced in the early Christian communities. There are hints of the ap- proval of celibacy for Christian teachers in The Teach- ing of the Twelve Apostles ; apparently at the date of this writing there were classes of men in the Church who abstained from marriage.^ Soon approval of celi- bacy is shown in both orthodox and heretical (Gnostic and Montanist) circles ; it appears in Justin Martyr ; it is strong with Cyprian, with Clement of Alexandria — and the deed of Origen is well known. After the third century, Christian writers are well-nigh unani- mous in setting the virgin or celibate state above the state of marriage.^ Modern scholarship has corrected the earlier exag- gerated views of the corruption of the Eoman Empire. Yet periods of declining strength are necessarily cor- rupt : in comparison with the amount of strength and virtue existing, there is a greater proportion of weak- ness and evil than in a period of advance, however rough. It was a phase of declining strength that men and women sought the gratification of their passions while shunning the responsibilities of marriage. The sexual intercourse of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire was disproportionately illicit. Such a condi- tion tended to disparage marriage. Sternly the Chris- tian Fathers condemned the corruption of the world. 1 DidacM, VI, 2 ; XI, 11 ; and cf. I, 4. 2 Exceptions were the monk Jovinian and the presbyter Vigilan- tius of the latter part of the fourth century. See Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography. Basil, Ascetica, Sermo de renunciatione saeculi, recognizes that a married man has wider responsibilities than a monk, and that married life is harder to lead aright.